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Wood Craft Ben Wood |
Police Chief Donohue
proud of national
accreditationPolice Chief Lee Donohue, 61, who retires June 30, said his most memorable moment in 40 years on the force was when his son, Lee Jr., graduated from the police recruit school in 1988 and gave the speech for his class. Lee Jr. is now a patrol sergeant. Getting the department accredited nationally, one of only 14 major police departments with that distinction, was his most important milestone. "We did it in three years," the 1977 Chaminade graduate said. To be accredited, a department must meet 80 percent of 441 standards of professional excellence. Under Donohue, HPD complied with 91 percent ... I won the silent auction bid at an Alzheimer's Association fund-raiser to have lunch with the chief and his wife of 44 years, Lucy, at the Kahala Mandarin. They were McKinley High sweethearts. Donohue worked as a plumber's apprentice before joining HPD in 1964 ...
Kahala G.M. Goessing, P.R. chief Gan stop by
Jan Goessing, Kahala G.M., and hotel spokeswoman Vivienne Gan stopped by to greet the couple at Thursday's luncheon. Besides Lee Jr., the chief and Lucy have three other children -- Darlynn Hutchins, Leanne Williams and Steven Donohue. The chief has three karate schools. He holds a seventh-degree black belt in karate; the highest degree is nine. Jujitsu enthusiast Daynin "The Grappler" Dashefsky was also in on the luncheon along with Home Quest Realtor Andrea Kia. Daynin peppered the chief with martial arts questions. The chief urged the women, both "notorious" for their charitable fund-raising efforts, to volunteer for the Kick Start Karate fund-raiser July 10 at the Aina Haina Bayer Estate. Kick Start, which the chief co-founded with retired Waipahu High teacher Amy Abe, is a martial arts program that encourages at-risk youths to excel in school and stay out of gangs. Daynin said they'd love to take part. Call Michael-Ann Mercado at 677-3412 or 384-0815 for more Kick Start info. A tour of the Police Station was included with our luncheon. Sgt. Eric Matsumoto took us through the department's interesting museum. In the communications section, where we received info about 911 calls and more from Maj. Ken Simmons, the chief took time to shake hands and visit with all the members of the large staff at their desks. That's class ...
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Ben Wood, who sold the Star-Bulletin in the streets of downtown Honolulu during World War II, writes of people, places and things every Wednesday and Saturday. E-mail him at bwood@starbulletin.com